California Pizza Kitchen to shift headquarters to Playa Vista
Restaurant chain California Pizza Kitchen Inc. will move its headquarters to Playa Vista after signing a sublease with Fox Interactive Media.
CPK officials and staff will relocate this summer from their longtime headquarters on Century Boulevard near Los Angeles International Airport to the top floor of 12181 Bluff Creek Drive, said real estate broker Dave Toomey of Cresa Los Angeles.
The pizza chain will occupy 33,000 square feet on the fifth floor, which has a large private balcony with views of Marina del Rey, Toomey said.
Financial terms of the nine-year deal with Fox were not released, but landlord JPMorgan Chase & Co. is asking for $3.25 per square foot a month for similar space in another building in the office complex called the Bluffs at Playa Vista.
In a $350-million deal, Fox Interactive agreed to rent 430,000 square feet in the Bluffs before the complex was completed in 2009, but never fully moved in. That year, Fox Interactive faced financial difficulties and began staff cutbacks.
Social media company Myspace was among the digital companies Fox Interactive intended to house at Playa Vista, but Myspace lost ground to competitor Facebook Inc. and was eventually sold by Fox.
CPK was acquired by San Francisco private equity firm Golden Gate Capital in July for $470 million. The casual dining chain sells its food at more than 250 California Pizza Kitchen restaurants as well as in stadiums and the frozen food aisles of grocery stores.
CBRE chief executive to retire
The world’s largest commercial real estate brokerage, CBRE Group Inc., said Brett White would retire as chief executive at the end of the year.
Robert Sulentic, who serves as president of the Los Angeles Fortune 500 company, will succeed White.
White, 52, is a former real estate broker who has worked for CBRE for nearly 30 years. He will remain on the company’s board of directors after his retirement.
“Being part of this organization — and having the privilege of leading it as CEO since 2005 — has been the adventure of a lifetime,” White said.
Sulentic, 55, has had direct responsibility for all of the company’s business lines and operating segments since 2009. He also served as chief financial officer in 2009. He joined the company in 2006 when it acquired Trammell Crow Co., where he was serving as chief executive.
“I look forward to working with our 34,000 global professionals and the board to build on the success that Brett has helped us to achieve,” Sulentic said.
CBRE Group is the largest commercial real estate services firm in revenue and has more than 300 offices around the globe.
Electric-vehicle maker leases Chatsworth building
A Colorado electric vehicle manufacturer has leased an industrial building in Chatsworth where it will assemble delivery trucks and utility vehicles.
Boulder Electric Vehicle will occupy a 27,714-square-foot manufacturing building at 9655 Irondale Ave. in Chatsworth, real estate brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle said.
Boulder Electric’s new facility represents an expansion from its manufacturing facility in Boulder, Colo., the company said.
The manufacturer is set to move in by September. It will tool up the plant to produce 1,000 all-electric trucks a year. The company will bring on 30 workers over the next 12 months and plans to hire many more once the plant is fully operational, Boulder Electric said.
“Boulder EV’s manufacturing facility will bring a new edge to our growing electric vehicle industry and much needed jobs,” Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said.
